Arguably the greatest quarterback in Arizona Wildcats history will be officially inducted into the UA Sports Hall of Fame this year.
Arizona announced Nick Foles as a member of its 2025 UA Sports Hall of Fame class on Tuesday.
The Arizona Sports Hall of Fame ceremony will be in November. Other inductees will be announced this week. Foles will be the only football representative in the UA Sports Hall of Fame ‘25 class.
The Austin, Texas native starred at Westlake High School, where he passed for 5,658 yards and 56 touchdowns, breaking former NFL star Drew Brees’ passing records. Foles signed to Michigan State in 2007 and shared a quarterback room with NFL quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Brian Hoyer. Foles briefly transferred to Arizona State before signing with the Wildcats under head coach Mike Stoops in 2008.
After four-year starter Willie Tuitama graduated, Foles competed with Matt Scott for the starting role, but lost the battle. Foles was inserted in the second half of Arizona’s nonconference road loss to Iowa and was named the starter heading into the Wildcats’ Pac-10 opener at Oregon State. Foles led the Wildcats to a 37-32 win over the Beavers and remained Arizona’s starting quarterback for three seasons.
Arizona quarterback Nick Foles pets “Wilbur” a 7-year-old Bobcat during a PSA for the Tucson Wildlife Center on July 18, 2011, in Tucson.
Foles led Arizona to an 8-5 record in 2009 and positioned the Wildcats to potentially control their destiny to the Rose Bowl with a matchup against Oregon with ESPN’s “College GameDay” in Tucson, but Arizona lost to the Ducks in double overtime. Arizona lost to Nebraska 33-0 in the Holiday Bowl. The following season, the Wildcats lost to Oklahoma State 36-10 in the Alamo Bowl.
In the three seasons with Foles as the starter, the Wildcats didn’t win a bowl game, but the quarterback finished his career as the program’s all-time passing leader with 10,011 yards and 67 touchdowns.
Before the 2011 season, Foles attended the Manning Passing Academy, where he was roommates with current Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege, who was then the starting quarterback at Texas Tech.
Following an illustrious career at the UA, Foles was a third-round draft choice by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012 and carved out an 11-year career, primarily as a backup. As a rookie under former Eagles head coach Andy Reid, Foles took over as starter after Michael Vick suffered a concussion. In his first start, Foles led the Eagles to a walk-off win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football.
Arizona football legend Nick Foles will be inducted into the U of A Sports Hall of Fame in November.
In Foles’ second season under Chip Kelly, he competed with Vick for the starting job but, like his Arizona career, didn’t earn the starting job until midway through the season. Foles passed for 2,891 yards, 27 touchdowns and two interceptions in 2013; he had the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the NFL.
Foles’ production dipped in 2014, when he passed for 2,183 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, before he was traded to the St. Louis Rams. Foles was a backup for the Rams and Kansas City Chiefs for two seasons.
Foles entered free agency in 2017 and signed a two-year contract to return to the Eagles for a second stint. During Week 14 of the 2017 season, Eagles starter Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending ACL injury, putting Foles back as Philadelphia’s starter.
Foles led the top-seeded Eagles to their first-ever Super Bowl, taking down the New England Patriots and future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. In a play known as “Philly Special,” one of the most iconic plays in Super Bowl history, Foles caught a touchdown pass at the goal line.
Arizona legend and Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots in February 2018.
Foles is the first player to catch and throw a touchdown in Super Bowl history. The interaction between Foles and Eagles head coach Doug Pederson on the sidelines before “Philly Special” was turned into a statue outside Lincoln Financial Field.
Foles is the only former Wildcat to earn Super Bowl MVP honors.
After the 2018 season, Foles signed a four-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars and was traded to the Chicago Bears in 2020, before ending his career with a two-year stint with the Indianapolis Colts. Foles officially retired last year.
Foles ended his NFL career with 14,227 yards, 82 touchdowns and 47 interceptions. Between his high school, college and NFL careers, Foles threw for 29,953 yards and 205 touchdowns.
The 36-year-old Foles made just under $88 million in career earnings.
